Chapter 426: Descend the Mountain, Purge Demons!
Chapter 426: Descending the Mountain to Vanquish Demons!
Extreme Heaven Cliff, Ye Family Estate.
Ye Shaoying, the current head of the Ye Family, stood with his hands clasped behind his back, gazing silently beyond the mountains. Behind him stood a young man with a sinister countenance.
"What a pity," Ye Shaoying sighed, his eyes filled with resignation. If True Person Dangmo had truly been aligned with his Ye Family, he would never have resorted to such measures. After all, wasn't this tantamount to severing one's own arm?
'But Guang Ji was destined to sacrifice himself to the Sword Dao sooner or later. Since that's the case, the timing matters little—better to let our Ye Family reap greater benefits.'
'Our Ye Family nurtured him step by step to his current state. Without our cultivation, he would never have achieved his present cultivation and status. Moreover, the stronger our family becomes, the greater the possibility of guiding him back in the future. Surely, he would have been pleased.'
Ye Shaoying quickly convinced himself.
Or perhaps this had always been the operating principle of Sword Pavilion—it was just that True Person Dangmo had never truly fit in. And now, he was to be cast aside.
"Ye Cheng."
Ye Shaoying turned to the young man beside him and spoke softly, "Guang Ji left no descendants in life, and thus, after his passing, treasures like the [Sword of No Killing] have no inheritor."
"I cannot stand by and watch his legacy fade."
"From today onward, you shall be recorded in the family registry as his adopted descendant. I hope you wield the [Sword of No Killing] well and restore Guang Ji's former glory."
Ye Cheng immediately clasped his hands in acknowledgment, his handsome face twisting with excitement, his eyes gleaming—not just with the joy of ascending to great heights overnight, but also with the satisfaction of vengeance. Clearly, he had long harbored resentment toward True Person Dangmo, who had stripped him of his status with a single word.
'This man deserves his fate today!'
At this thought, Ye Cheng nearly burst into laughter. Yet as time passed, his expression gradually stiffened.
—True Person Dangmo's aura had not dissipated.
Not only that, but even Evil-Banishing True Person and Buddhist disciple Guang Ming, who had already begun celebrating in the Piercing-Earth Abyss, were momentarily stunned, as if unable to comprehend what was happening.
'What's going on?'
Evil-Banishing True Person frowned slightly, a faint sense of foreboding rising in his heart. Yet no sooner had this premonition surfaced than he forcefully suppressed it.
'There can be no mishap. I've cultivated [Sword Intent] my entire life—how could I not understand it? Killing with the [Sword of No Killing Intent] creates an irreconcilable conflict. How could the [Sword Intent] remain intact? It must self-destruct! And once it does, his fortune will no longer hold, forcing him to begin sacrificing his Sword Dao Fruit Position!'
The inevitable outcome would be True Person Dangmo's death.
How could there be any deviation?
There must be none!
Yet as time dragged on, True Person Dangmo's aura outside Sword Pavilion's gates remained unchanged. The anticipated plea for gold never came.
'...Master, send someone to investigate.'
Evil-Banishing True Person finally spoke, his gaze shifting to Guang Ming. "You've been here long enough—it's time you did something."
Guang Ming immediately clasped his hands together in response.
'He's afraid.'
Naturally so—because Guang Ming was afraid too. They had dared to scheme only because they were certain True Person Dangmo would perish afterward, leaving no possibility of retaliation.
But what if True Person Dangmo was wounded yet survived?
That would spell disaster.
Especially now that True Person Dangmo's [Sword of No Killing Intent] had been shattered. If his supposedly foolish and rigid philosophy of "no killing" had also been broken...
"...Amitabha!"
At this thought, Guang Ming's true body in the Pure Land abruptly opened its eyes and sucked in a sharp breath. He wanted no part of this misfortune.
Sending himself was out of the question.
Fortunately, the Pure Land was vast—there were plenty of expendable followers. With this in mind, he immediately summoned a guardian monk from outside the temple.
"Vimalakirti, go to Sword Pavilion."
"Ah? Me?"
The monk was taken aback, but as a disciple equivalent to a late-stage Foundation Establishment Grand True Person, he had no right to refuse the Buddhist disciple's command.
He bowed in acknowledgment, then soared away on a beam of Buddhist light.
Jiangnan, outside Sword Pavilion's gates.
Lü Yang stood with his hands clasped before him, eyes lowered, posture rigid, silently experiencing the "intent" now permeating the heavens and earth.
The sensation was akin to being pierced by ten thousand arrows or flayed by a thousand blades—agonizing torment despite the absence of any physical assault. Only his own [Sword Intent] shielded him; otherwise, like the others, he would have been affected in the real world...
"Ahhh—!"
"No—I was wrong! True Person Dangmo, I was wrong!"
"Spare us...!"
"Please, no!"
Lü Yang glanced around and saw the group brought by the old man Mo Shiyuan rolling on the ground, weeping and wailing, begging for mercy uncontrollably.
Yet this wasn't even True Person Dangmo punishing them.
'It's merely the result of True Person Dangmo's emotional turmoil causing his [Sword Intent] to run wild... and this turmoil was provoked by you lot.'
Serves you right!
Yet what left Lü Yang both exasperated and admiring was that—as the cries of these people grew louder—True Person Dangmo snapped out of his daze.
In the next instant, the terrifying [Sword Intent] that had inflicted excruciating pain began to recede steadily. Before long, the winds calmed, the clouds dispersed, and all abnormalities vanished, leaving only True Person Dangmo standing silently in his bloodstained robes, his sword-like brows gazing down at the crowd with quiet composure.
"Boom—!"
Suddenly, Lü Yang saw the fortune above True Person Dangmo's head surge violently, on the verge of breaching a critical threshold that would propel him into an irreversible state.
Yet in the next moment—
"Wait a little longer."
Four polite words. True Person Dangmo raised his head toward the heavens and clasped his hands in request—yet even before receiving a response, he had already acted.
Index and middle fingers extended like a sword.
In an instant, a [Sword Intent] utterly distinct from the [Sword of No Killing Intent], yet no less formidable—perhaps even more so—manifested at his fingertips!
"Screech—!"
Lü Yang, standing closest, felt his vision darken abruptly—his divine sense, which had been observing the [Sword Intent], had been severed effortlessly!
Not only that, but the spiritual energy, Dao techniques, light—everything within the vicinity of True Person Dangmo's fingertips—was annihilated in that instant. The [Sword Intent] did not manifest as sword qi but as a black-hole-like sphere hovering silently in midair.
'Is this... [Execution]?'
True Person Dangmo made no attempt to conceal his actions, so everyone could perceive that this was a [Sword Intent] related to [Execution].
Yet this was not a sword meant to kill people.
It did not target any individual but encompassed heaven, earth, and all creation—indiscriminately annihilating everything, friend or foe.
This was...
'[Heaven Execution] Sword!?'
The sword light flashed and vanished.
In the next instant, the majestic fortune above True Person Dangmo's head—which had been on the verge of breaking through—was cleanly severed, dissipating into nothingness.
He had severed his own fortune!
With this single stroke, True Person Dangmo, who had been on the brink of forced ascension, stabilized his aura once more. Though the severed fortune was recovering at an even faster rate, he had nonetheless bought himself more time—just as he had said, forcing those schemers to wait a little longer.
"Yan Xiao."
Lü Yang shuddered as True Person Dangmo turned his calm gaze upon him and spoke evenly, "I intend to undertake a task. Will you accompany me?"
"Disciple is willing," Lü Yang hurriedly bowed. "May I ask what task Master intends?"
Before he could finish, True Person Dangmo flicked his sleeve, resting one hand on the hilt of the [Sword of No Killing] at his waist, and answered nonchalantly:
"To the Pure Land."
Descending the mountain to vanquish demons!